None of the terriers—which look similar to the dog pictured here—died, though they had health issues. (Photo: George2001hi)

By Sharon Brand

Volunteers at the Montreal SPCA’s L’Annexe were kept busy in September, when they took in 100 rescued Yorkshire terriers.

“One day, a person called us, complaining about the noise and smell that was coming from a facility,” said Terry Price Kimmel, the Annexe’s volunteer co-ordinator. “The person also mentioned that it sure didn’t sound like there was only one dog in there.”

None of the dogs that were rescued died, though they weren’t in great shape. “Almost all of them had ear infections, bad teeth, infections on the skin. Some of them were sick and they smelled very bad because they were covered in dirt,’’ Kimmel said.

‘’We kept all the dogs in cages when they got here and we had volunteers coming from 7am to 9pm with a three-hour shift every day.’’

The terriers were vaccinated, sterilized and groomed, and some of them were adopted by the volunteers who cared for them, Kimmel said.

“None of the dogs are housetrained because they always lived in cages and in bad conditions, but some people who adopted them said they learn fast and they can use the pee-pad,’’ Kimmel said. “The dogs were in a facility their whole lives and the person who did that, sold the babies they were having.”